Can I use a USB adapter and USB antenna to boost wifi range on my iPad2?

cityunity wrote:

PS I understand the concept of repeating. I was hoping that a "repeater" would operate externally from my ipad by picking up weak wifi signals and repeating them more loudly so that my ipad would acknowledge them. ;-)

That's circular logic. If a repeater was capable of decoding the WiFi signal, the iPad would also be capable and the repeater would not be necessary.

no you can't but you can get standalone wifi signal repeaters which recive the wifi signal from your ipad and boost it giving it a wider range

Look at iOS Troubleshooting Wi-Fi networks and connections http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1398

Additional things to try.

Try this first. Turn Off your iPad. Then turn Off (disconnect power cord) the wireless router & then back On. Now boot your iPad. Hopefully it will see the WiFi.

Change the channel on your wireless router. Instructions at http://macintoshhowto.com/advanced/how-to-get-a-good-range-on-your-wireless-netw ork.html

How to Quickly Fix iPad 3 Wi-Fi Reception Problems

http://osxdaily.com/2012/03/21/fix-new-ipad-3-wi-fi-reception-problems/

If none of the above suggestions work, look at this link.

iPad Wi-Fi Problems: Comprehensive List of Fixes

http://appletoolbox.com/2010/04/ipad-wi-fi-problems-comprehensive-list-of-fixes/

 Cheers, Tom 😉

cityunity wrote:

Would a wifi signal repeater boost a signal if my ipad is not currently readin it (or not showing me that it is reading it)?

No. That's a physical impossibility. You can't repeat something that you don't hear.

Knowledge of the origin of the word "repeater" is quite useful. It was originally a Western Union job classification. Telegraph signals would travel maybe twenty miles before becoming unintelligible so a human was stationed at roughly the 18-mile point. This "repeater" would listen to the weak incoming signal and then repeat it to go another twenty miles. If he was at the 25-mile point, he wouldn't hear anything to repeat.

Look at the big brain on Philly!

Nice trivia(or was that your first job?) ;)

Hey, watch it!

The latter half of my career was in communications. I was an instructor in private industry and frequently had to explain the benefit of a repeater compared with an amplifier.

Maybe you should get your iPad looked at, mine has no trouble at all picking up usable signals for area wifi sites.

I'll rephrase...

If the repeater can decode the signal and the iPad can not, the iPad has a problem and you should be dealing with Apple Support.

Philly Phan wrote:

If the repeater can decode the signal and the iPad can not, the iPad has a problem and you should be dealing with Apple Support.

That's probably not true at all.

A repeater may have, and probably does have, a better antenna since its entire purpose is to send and receive signals, and it's not limited to the confines of an iPad.

Not all devices have the same receception and transmitting abilities, they vary greatly from one to another. Just because the iPad can't see a signal that the other 2 devices can, doesn't mean it has a problem. The iPad may be working perfectly, yet still not be capable of seeing weaker signals. Now, if several similar iPads in the same location (not just the same cafe, but at the same table in the cafe) were receiving signals that cityunity's wasn't, then they should have it checked.

I can recommend a great USB antenna for computers, but it's not compatible with portable devices.

The operative word is "may." For example, an Airport Express antenna is less effective than an iPad antenna.

But your statement was made as a matter of fact, and that statement is unproven and likely false..

If the repeater can decode the signal and the iPad can not, the iPad has a problem and you should be dealing with Apple Support.